Does the Production Approach to Markup Estimation Match a Stylized Fact?
Tove Forsbacka
Review of Economics and Statistics
2026
Readme file

The replication file consists of the following:

# Code to replicate the results

  * 00 income: Imports income data from Excel and saves a processed version
  * 00 population density: Imports population density data from Excel and saves a processed version
  * 00 sni key: Imports SNI-key data from Excel and saves a processed version
  * 00 municipality info: Imports municipality data from Excel and saves a processed version
  * 00 gdp deflator: Imports GDP deflator data from Excel and saves a processed version
  * 00 serrano: Extracts relevant variables from the dataset Serrano dataset 
  * 01 cleaning: Cleans the main dataset used for the analysis: bokslut.dta, 
  * 02 pf estimation: Estimates output elasticity of labor from production function estimation
  * 03 create data I: Produces the data for Table 1 and Figure 1a and 1b
  * 03a create data II: Produces the data for Figure 1c
  * 04 results I: Produces Table 1 and Figure 1a and 1b
  * 04a results II: Produces Figure 1c

# Data Availability and Provenance

The main data used in this paper is provided by the Bisnodes Serrano Database. While I am not allowed to publish the data, all code is published and the data can be bought without restrictions. Information on how to access the Serrano database can be found here: https://www.hhs.se/sv/houseoffinance/data-center/serrano/. Contact information: Henrik Talborn, Head of National Data Center, Swedish House of Finance henrik.talborn@hhs.se.

Additional data sources: Statistics Sweden, Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)

# Data dictionary

bokslut.dta (Bisnodes Serrano Database)
  * ORGNR (Corporate ID number)
  * REDTYP (Accounting type)
  * ANTANST (Number of employees)
  * BSLSLUT (Financial statement documentation, start date)
  * BSLSTART (Financial statement documentation, end date)
  * NTOMS (Net sales)
  * RAVAR (Raw materials)
  * HANDVAR (Goods for resale)
  * KOSALVAR (Cost of goods sold)
  * PERSKOS (Personnel expenses)
  * LONOV (Salaries for employees)
  * SOCKOSTN (Social security contributions)
  * AVSKSALV (Depreciation of cost of goods sold)
  * MATANLSU (Tangible fixed assets)

serrano.dta (Bisnodes Serrano Database)
  * ORGNR (Corporate ID number)
  * ser_namn (Business name)
  * ser_year (Year, calendar)
  * ser_kommunx (Municipality code for the firm’s municipality
  * ser_aktiv (Indicator for whether firm was active during the year)
  * ser_ftgkategori (Business category)
  * bransch_sni071 (Primary SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system after 2007))
  * bransch_sni072 (Code 2 SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system after 2007))
  * bransch_sni073 (Code 3 SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system after 2007))
  * bransch_sni074 (Code 4 SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system after 2007))
  * bransch_sni075 (Code 5 SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system after 2007))
  * bransch_sni1 (Primary SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system before 2007))
  * bransch_sni2 (Code 2 SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system before 2007))
  * bransch_sni3 (Code 3 SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system before 2007))
  * bransch_sni4 (Code 4 SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system before 2007))
  * bransch_sni5 (Code 5 SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system before 2007))

income.xlsx (Statistics Sweden)
  * income (Per capita income, average for the municipality)

population_density.xlsx (Statistics Sweden)
  * population_density (Population per square kilometer, average for the municipality)

nyckel-sni2002-sni2007.xlsx (Statistics Sweden)
  * SNI2002, (SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system before 2002))
  * SNI2007, (SNI (5-digit industry) code (classification system after 2007))

municipalities_info.xlsx (Swedish Association of Local Authorities)
  * Kommunkod (Municipality code)
  * Kommunnamn (Municipality name)
  * Kommungrupp2017namn (Municipality group name)
  * Länskod (Region code)

gdp_deflator.xlsx (FRED)
  * gdp_deflator (GDP Implicit Price Deflator in Sweden)

# System Requirements

  * Software: STATA 18.5
  * Operating System: Windows 11

# Contact Information

  * Tove Forsbacka, tove.forsbacka@nhh.no
